Gary James Beard (born April 7, 1956) is a conservative Republican former member of the Louisiana House of Representatives from East Baton Rouge Parish who was defeated in his bid for lieutenant governor in the nonpartisan blanket primary held on October 20, 2007.
Beard ran third in the race with 130,935 votes (11 percent).
The incumbent, Democrat Mitch Landrieu, later the mayor of New Orleans, was reelected with 57 percent of the vote.
Also running was a second Republican, Country music singer Sammy Kershaw of Abbeville in Vermilion Parish in southwestern Louisiana, who drew 30 percent of the ballots.